A heady bass line holding a pocket. A floor thumping beat driving steady. A grounding melody keeping your body in tact, while ambient wavelengths send your mind adrift. That’s what good dance music is made of.
Since forming in 2001, Mark Lamorg and Ryan Leary, aka Streetlab, have been making danceable remixes of their favorite classic rock classics, tying together their vast musical influences into a genre-hopping sound. They’ve “worked with” the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, even Hall & Oats. Now they’re working on their own stuff.
Heady bass? Check. Heart-pumping beats? Spacey synth lines? Check, check. But I know what you’re thinking, how bout them vocals? Yeah, they bring that too. Each track features a different vocalist, but don’t think they’re the feature attraction of each song. The repetitious lyrics are used in synergy with the beat and flow to create a mesh of sound that brings the heat for any weekend rager.
The duo’s new material builds on the sound they formed through their remixes, while drawing influence from various other sources. “Twisted Up” is Crystal Castley and early single, “NYsound,” is pure LCD Soundsytem. The chillwave and synth-pop sounds fuse together with one common thread; the DnB thump. Now don’t get me wrong, this music won’t blow your mind, but it might bust your speakers. Although Streetlab isn’t yet coming out with groundbreaking music, it should still be played at max volume at your next banger.
And for all you techno-remix hounds out there, Streetlab’s are definitely worth a listen. Their remix of the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” starts off a bit slow, but packs heat with a strong climax when Mick and his backing choir are finally introduced. “Sgt. Peppers” peak isn’t as beefy, but Streetlab’s techno re-imagination provides a unique interpretation on the Beatles’ classic.
For an overall grade I’d give these guys a B. For what they lack in innovation they surely make up with in punch, and a heavy one at that. Their full-length debut, AUTO SPKR, is due out this month, so keep an open eye. Their website is calling it “bombastic, immersive, and surpassing the parameters of BPM”—we shall see. But until then, you can get their the EP on 
. For more tubthumping remixes and a few Streetlab originals check out MySpace.